“We were really successful in the attack today. We have to be happy with the six goals scored,” said Manninen, whose team lost to the Slovaks on a 30:33 shot.
“We had some chances and we were able to transform them. The goalkeeper caught us well, we played well weak, but there were still some things we could improve,” said Manninen.
The Slovak team entered the match more than promisingly. Right in the opening seconds, Hrivík made his way to the end, sending a puck close up next to the goal with a backhand. On the other hand, Pakarinen’s run on the goal construction ended.
But the Slovaks took the lead. After an untapped opportunity for Rosandič, Roman’s action came, which Slafkovský completed with a close shot after he managed to beat goalkeeper Säteri from the edge of the goal area.
The Finns started slowly, but they were all the more effective and dangerous in the second half of the opening act. After 11 minutes, after a quick pass, he got into a solo against goalkeeper Konrád Manninen and opened his shooting account.
This was followed by a numerical advantage of the Northerners, in which Lehtonen fired the right stick, but in the same power play Pesonen prevailed after a beautiful combination.
At the beginning of the 17th minute, the Slovaks had 113 seconds of a five-on-three power play, but they couldn’t think much and the opponent defended himself without much difficulty.
On the contrary, 18 seconds after the Finns were again at five, Aaltonen completed the turn after renumbering two to one. Of the six shots between the sticks in the first period, the Finns scored three goals.
In the second part, Aaltonen missed first. He then fired dangerously in a power play Pospíšil, but moved to Manninen again, who in the 30th minute matured again in a duel face to face on the support of the extra-league team Olomouc Konrád.
Slafkovský returned the Slovaks back within range, when he skated from the back fence into the ring and hit exactly on the back post.
“It’s positive that I scored two goals, but more importantly, we didn’t win. And we need to learn from that. We need to learn from the mistakes we’ve made to make it better against the Swedes tomorrow,” Slafkovsky said.
The name of the Slovak talent is expected very high in this year’s NHL draft. At the age of 17, the American Ed Olczyk last entered the Olympic tournament for the last time in Sarajevo in 1984.
However, Čerešňák made a mistake right at the beginning of the third period and after 16 seconds he completed Manninen’s hat-trick. The Slovaks’ hopes for a turnaround took hold. All the more so when they did not use two powerlifters in a short sequence.
The Finns, on the other hand, did very well in numerical advantage and Aaltonen sealed their win in the ending 55 minutes. Vatanen then hit the stick.
“When we got to the offensive zone, we were able to hold the puck there and get to the shots. Our young player scored two goals. I feel good about a lot of things, but he is far from good in many others,” said the Canadian coach of the Slovak team. Craig Ramsay.
“We won the first match here, which we are happy for. We scored six goals, played well in overtime and weakenings and the goalkeeper caught us very well, but I don’t think it was a 6: 2 match. The Slovaks played well and the numbers don’t always tell the whole story, “admitted the winners’ coach Jukka Jalonen, who led the Finns to gold and silver in the last two World Championships.
Wallmark helped defeat the Latvians
Swedish captain Lander appeared in a great chance after 21 seconds from the initial throw-in, but the goalkeeper Punnenovs did not let himself be thrown.
“We wanted to enter the tournament well. It was very important to win. We have to change some things. I think we played too passively, especially in the third period,” said the Swedish captain Anton Lander.
In the middle of the first period, the Tre kronor players prevailed. Holmberg passed from behind the goal and Wallmark opened the score with a quick shot from the ring. The Northerners then played two consecutive power plays at the end of the opening act, but did not raise the lead from them.
But they succeeded after 30 seconds of the second part. Lander intercepted Punnenovs’ expulsion after the fence, and Bromy’s shot came after him. The Latvians then had a four-minute numerical advantage, but did not achieve a reduction.
The second goal was near Wallmark, but the Punnens moved in time and closed the space at the pole. In the 34th minute, however, the striker CSKA Moskva survived and again after finishing from the first, this time in a power play.
“We know we have players on the team who can score goals, even though we may not have so many real shooters. Lucas has won twice today, next time it will be someone else,” said Swedish coach Garpenlöv, 53.
“We have seen the quality of the Swedes. If you make mistakes, they score quickly. That’s why you have to be alert every second. That’s exactly how their three goals were scored,” said Latvian coach Harijs Vitolinš.
The Latvians also took advantage of the numerical advantage thanks to Krastenbergs in the 37th minute, and 10 minutes later, after another utilized power play, they approached the difference of a single goal. Yeliseyev took care of it, again with the assistance of Captain Darzins and Balinskis.
“It is good that we have returned to the match, it will give us confidence in Friday’s match. At 0: 3, I said we had nothing to lose, we continued the physical game. We said we would score a goal and see what happened. “Vitolinš said.
Dzierkals was able to equalize, but he did not beat goalkeeper Lars Johannson. However, the two-time Olympic winners, who finished ninth at the World Cup last year, offsetting their worst position in the 1937 tournament, kept the tightest lead.
In the end, Krastenbergs overshot close, and two seconds before the end, the Swedish goalkeeper managed to move in a flash against Balinskis’ shot from the volley.
The second matches in the group will be played by both teams on Friday. Sweden will challenge Slovakia and Latvia will face Finland.
